Robitussin tool tracks cough activity

January 17th, 2013

CHICAGO and PHILADELPHIA – It's peak cold and flu season for the people of Chicago and Philadelphia, according to Robitussin's CoughCast tool.

The Pfizer consumer health brand said Wednesday that, with the nation headlong into its earliest flu season in almost a decade, nearly 912,000 adult residents in Chicago have experienced troublesome cold and flu symptoms, and more than 1 million have reported suffering from cough.

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, over 1 million adult residents have had nagging cold and flu symptoms, and about 918,000 have reported experiencing coughing.

Robitussin's CoughCast is a new online tool that allows people to track cough activity in their local area so they can be prepared to treat their symptoms and avoid the "COUGHequences," such as missing out on work and social gatherings. Findings from the tool were compiled by IMS Health using U.S. national and regional data on cold and flu trends.

On average, the nation experience more than 1 billion cases of the common cold each year, and an estimated 5% to 20% of the population will get the flu, Robitussion reported. Cough is a primary symptom of both the cold and the flu, and up to half of people suffering from a cold will have a cough. Other cold and flu symptoms can include sore throat, nasal congestion and fever.